New exec hired to guide Google Fiber amid slowing expansion

Google Fiber hasn't gone away. There's just been a lot of change for the service in recent years that made its expansion slow down, and this week a new name is taking over. Alphabet has hired Dinesh Jain to lead the Access division that oversees Google Fiber's operations.

He'll be monitoring performance in the near-twenty markets where Google Fiber and Webpass are currently available.

There are no immediate plans to bring the service to additional markets, but maybe this industry veteran can create a viable path moving forward. Jain's biggest role was as Time Warner Cable's chief operating officer. Time Warner Cable was one of the most popular regional cable companies prior to Charter scooping it up for $79 billion in 2015.

Right now Google Fiber is only available in select cities such as Atlanta, Kansas City, Nashville, Salt Lake City, and San Antonio. There are multiple locations identified as "potential cities," but Alphabet hasn't given the green light to enter any of them.

The installation of more fiber nationwide has been paused since early last year. But it could be Webpass that continues Google Fiber in 2018 and beyond. Alphabet acquired Webpass, an internet service provider known for delivery wireless high-speed data in residential areas, in 2016. Now it's up to Jain to figure out what's best to make Google Fiber a national brand rather than a small-scale project.